Five Palestinian villages near the northern West Bank town of Jenin were placed under curfew and sealed off by the Israeli occupation army Monday, Palestinian security sources told AFP.They said two occupation army helicopters were hovering above the area.The villages of Anin, Taybeh, Bartaa, Rumani and Zbuba lie on the Green Line which separates the West Bank from Israel, the sources said Monday.

The occupation army could not immediately confirm the information, although military sources said "there were reports of infiltration attempts from the northern West Bank into Israel."

Partial freedom of movement in Hebron after four days of curfew.

The Israeli occupation army lifted the curfew in most of Hebron, after a four-day lockdown during a new operation in the flashpoint West Bank city.

But the curfew in Hebron's historic old city, where 20,000 Palestinians live next to 600 hardline Jewish settlers under the protection of hundreds of Israeli occupation soldiers, was still being enforced, Palestinian security sources told AFP.

The occupation army also did not remove cement blocks preventing the free movement of cars in downtown Hebron, they said Monday.

Local officials from the Palestinian education ministry used radio broadcasts to urge pupils to attend schools.

The occupation army launched a massive military campaign last week in Hebron, dubbed Hot Winter and aimed at "arresting wanted Palestinian terrorists," after a string of attacks that have killed 22 Israeli occupation soldiers and civilians in the area over the past few months.

Twenty-two Palestinians buildings, most of them still under construction, was demolished by the occupation army Sunday, allegedly for having been built without permission of the Israeli authorities in Hebron.

Most West Bank cities, except for Jericho, have been reoccupied by the occupation army since June 2002 to fight Palestinian armed groups on their turf.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Palestinian boy throws stones at Israeli occupation soldie